Rebel Music Dub Magnificent - Reggae Night

Part 4 of this series of reggae mixes explores the deep end of dub. Definitely headphone music.

The photo is Lee "Scratch" Perry from the early days.

Below is a link to Mixcloud for listening to this mix.






Bob Marley - Rebel Music (Ambient Dub Mix)
Burning Spear - Black Wa-Da-Da
Prince Far I - The Right Way
Mad Professor - Beyond The Realms Of Dub
Suns of Arqa - Tabla Scool
Gorillaz Vs. Spacemonkeyz - Dub 09 (Starshine)
Easy Star All Stars - The Great Gig In The Sky
Augustus Pablo - East Of The River Nile
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Bitch Dub
Bill Laswell - Babylon Site
Jah Wobble - Lord Keep Me Dub (Version Number Three)
The Clash - One More Dub
Bad Brains - I & I Survive
Lee "Scratch" Perry - In These Times Dub
Scientist - Blacka Shade Of Dub
King Tubby - Dub Magnificent

Rebel Music Dub Magnificent - Reggae Night by 60@60 on Mixcloud

Armagideon Time - Reggae Night

Armagideon Time. It's a cold January and the perfect time to put together another mix in my reggae series to get me thinking and feeling of warmer climes.

 The photo is Burning Spear back when it was a trio and not just the man.

And of course as always you can listen to this mix using the Mixcloud link below.

1. Dr. Israel - Armagideon Time (Inna City Pressure, 1998)
2. Sizzla - Subterranean Homesick Blues (RAS Reggae Box Set, 2004)
3. Yellowman - Zunguzung (Zimguzunggauguzungguz, 1983)
4. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Want Fi Go Rave (Forces Of Victory, 1979)
5. Peter Broggs - Rastafari Chant Nyahbinghi (Rise & Shine, 1985)
6. Steel Pulse - Chant A Psalm (True Democracy, 1981)
7. Black Uhuru - Darkness / Dubness (Chill Out, 1982)
8. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Crazy Baldheads (Rastaman Vibration, 1976)
9. Augustus Pablo - Chant To King Selassie I (East Of The River Nile, 1977)
10. Burning Spear - Old Marcus Garvey (Marcus Garvey, 1976)
11. Bunny Wailer - Armageddon (Black Heart Man, 1976)
12. The Clash - Justice Tonight / Kick It Over (Black Market Clash, 1980)
13. Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop (Funky Kingston, 1975)
14. I Roy - War & Fiction (Hell and Sorrow, 1974)
15. Niney The Observer - Blood & Fire (Observation Station, 1990)
16. The Congos - Neckodeemus (Trojan Upsetter Box 1975-1980, 2002)

Armagideon Time - Reggae Night by 60@60 on Mixcloud

When The Lights Went Dim - Late Night

First new mix of the new year. A collection of music from the last decade that just came together in one sitting. A spontaneous mix that felt more like the old days when I worked playing records in the sound booth of bars on that 10pm to 4am shift. Of course the only band here on my playlist back then was XTC.





1.   The Rosebuds - When The Lights Went Dim (Night of the Furies, 2007)
2.   Cloud Cult - Please Remain Calm (The Meaning of 8, 2007)
3.   Jets Overhead - This Way (Bridges, 2006)
4.   Lewis Taylor - Yeah (The Lost Album, 2005)
5.   Black Dub - Last Time (Black Dub, 2010)
6.   Houses - Soak It Up (All Night, 2010)
7.   Field Music - In Context (Tones of Town, 2007)
8.   XTC - I'd Like That (Apple Venus Pt. 1, 1999)
9.   Blur - Coffee & TV (13, 1999)
10. Wilco - Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) (Summerteeth, 1999)
11. Yo La Tengo - Season Of The Shark (Summer Sun, 2003)
12. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong (Amnesiac, 2001)
13. The Strokes - Hard To Explain (Is This It, 2001)
14. Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running (Neon Bible, 2007)
15. Metric - Help I'm Alive (Fantasies, 2009)
16. Suckers - Beach Queen (Suckers, 2009)
17. Broken Bells - Vaporize (Broken Bells, 2010)
18. Luke Haines - How Could I Be Wrong (Das Capital, 2003)

When The Lights Went Dim - Late Night by 60@60 on Mixcloud

Some favorite albums of 2012

Here they are... 60 of my favorite albums for 2012. I followed this with another 60 albums from the year in alphabetical order.

Doing these lists are always an exercise in frustration because it is a moving target. I am very subjective about this and this compiled list would look different on any given day. I know there is a lot more great music either on the bottom of this list or in my collection but not listed at all because I haven't listened to them enough. So much wonderful music takes time and repeated listens to reveal greatness. There is also a lot of music I saw on various end of the year lists that I've acquired recently that will be in high rotation over the coming months and years.

Albums that are compilations, anthologies and reissues are in another list.

 So here is the list which really starts out with a nice mellow groove until DIIV and then especially the craziness of Goat.

1. Father John Misty - Fear Fun
2. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
3. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
4. Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames - New Multitudes
5. DIIV - Oshin
6. Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
7. Goat - World Music
8. Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur
9. Field Report - Field Report
10. Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship
11. Cat Power - Sun
12. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
13. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
14. Exitmusic - Passage
15. Calexico - Algiers
16. Grizzly Bear - Shields
17. Tame Impala - Lonerism
18. Beach House - Bloom
19. Richard Hawley - Standing At The Sky's Edge
20. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aufheben
21. Bob Dylan - Temptest
22. Alejandro Escovedo - Big Station
23. Grimes - Visions
24. Shovel & Rope - O' Be Joyful
25. Islands - A Sleep and A Forgetting
26. Lower Dens - Nootropics
27. Plants and Aninals - The End Of That
28. The Stray Birds - The Stray Birds
29. The Swans - Seer
30. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellen
31. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
32. Animal Collective - Centipede  Hz
33. Dr. John - Locked Down
34. Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill
35. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
36. Marissa Nadler - The Sister
37. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
38. Pinback - Information Retrieved
39. Black Prairie - A Tear In The Eye Is A Wound In The Heart
40. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden
41. Gary Clark Jr. - Black and Blu
42. Shawn Colvin - All Fall Down
43. Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In The Universe
44. Dwight Yoakim - 3 Pears
45. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
46. Mount Eerie - Clear Moon
47. Bro. Stephen - Baptist Girls
48. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
49. Jack White - Blunderbuss
50. Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
51. Giant Sand - Tucson
52. Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
53. Laura Gibson - La Grande
54. Damien Jurado - Maraqopo
55. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
56. Bob Mould - Silver Age
57. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
58. The Shins - Port of Morrow
59. Todd Snider - Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables
60. Various Artists - The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond
61. 2:54 - 2:54
62. Allah Las - Allah Las
63. Joseph Arthur - Redemption City
64. The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter
65. Band of Horses - Mirage Rock
66. Ryan Bingham - Tomorrowland
67. Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
68. Paul Brill - Breezy
69. Sera Cahoone - Deer Creek Canyon
70. Callers - Reviver
71. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
72. Ry Cooder - Election Special
73. Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
74. Daphni - Jiaolong
75. The dBs - Falling Off The Sky
76. Iris Dement - Sing The Delta
77. Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky
78. The Dreaming Spires - Brothers in Brooklyn
79. Justin Townes Earle - Nothings Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
80. Evening Hymns - Spectral Dusk
81. Godspeed You Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
82. Grand Duchy - Let The People Speak
83. Great Lake Swimmers - New Wild Everywhere
84. Heartless Bastards - Arrow
85. The Helio Sequence - Negotiations
86. John Hiatt - Mystic Pinball
87. Kelly Hogan - I Like To Keep Myself In Pain
88. Hundred Waters - Hundred Waters
89. Jamey Johnson - Livin' For A Song
90. Lambchop - Mr. M
91. Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral 
92. Bettye Levette - Thankful n' Thoughtful 
93. Cate Le Bon - Cyrk
94. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action At A Distance
95. Jeff Lynne - Longwave
96. Maps & Atlases - Beware and Be Grateful
97. Rhett Miller - The Dreamer
98. Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale - Buddy & Jim
99. Mmoss - Only Children
100. Oberhofer - Time Capsules II
101. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
102. Opossum - Electric Hawaii
103. Peaking Lights - Lucifer
104. Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful
105. Joe Pug - The Great Depiser
106. Screaming Females - Ugly
107. Sea Wolf - Old World Romance
108. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Here
109. Shearwater - Animal Joy
110. Sigur Ros - Valtari
111. Chris Smither - Hundred Dollar Valentine
112. Spirtualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light
113. Angus Stone - Broken Brights
114. Sun Kil Moon - Among The Leaves
115. Tindersticks - The Something Rain
116. M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion
117. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
118. Winterpills - All My Lovely Goners
119. Wood - Bend Beyond
120. Neil Young - Americana

It was a Harry Potter year.

During the Christmas break last year I watched all the Harry Potter movies one after another. It took just under two weeks. It was very fascinating to watch the characters/actors grow up as the series progressed. My kids were old enough to be not interested in Harry Potter when the first book appeared so we never had any of the books in our house. We never experienced the waiting for the next book to be published or the subsequent hoopla over the movies.

So last Christmas I decided to watch the movies and I enjoyed them very much. Then in the spring I stared reading the books one by one. After each book I would get the movie from the library and watch it a second time.  The first couple of movies followed the books very closely but as the books got more complicated the movies started leaving out significant details. I finished the last book in June. Now I feel like I can pick up on all the popular culture references to the Harry Potter World that I've missed over the years. So, yes, 2012 was a Harry Potter year for me.

I don't usually read much Young Adult Fiction anymore since the kids have grown up but I did also read another series in 2012 and that was the three books in the Hunger Games series. They were very popular on campus and I had the opportunity to pick up the first one for a very quick read over a weekend. The second one followed a week later in May but the third one was still in high demand. I finally got to read it in June. I thought they were all good but not great. I think I gave them all a 3 star review on Goodreads. They were a quick entertaining read especially for someone like me who enjoys science fiction and post-apocalyptic page turners.

I thought the movie of the first Hunger Games novel was very good and probably liked it better than the book. The soundtrack album was excellent and made it on to my end of the year list of favorite albums for 2012.